1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to touch screen devices, and more particularly to a system and method for cleaning the display screen of a touch screen device.
2. Related Art
In a touch screen device, user input is received via the device's display screen. Typically, a menu of options is displayed on the device's display screen. Each option corresponds to a feature provided by the device. A user selects one of the options by touching the appropriate part of the display screen.
Touching a touch screen device's display screen will result in the accumulation of oil and/or dirt on the display screen. Thus, to ensure proper operation, the display screen must be periodically cleaned. Such cleaning necessarily involves touching the display screen.
Conventional touch screen devices cannot differentiate between "screen touches" made to enter user input and screen touches made to clean the display screen. Consequently, the cleaning of a touch screen device's display screen may result in the inadvertent activation of the device's features, thereby resulting in improper operation of the device, and perhaps even damage to the device.
A conventional solution to this problem requires the removal of power to the device (i.e., turning the device off) while the device's display screen is cleaned, or at least removal of power from the device's display screen. However, this solution is inadequate for many types of touch screen devices, particularly devices which use their display screens to provide status information to users. In such devices, removal of power frown the display screen is not advantageous since it would then be impossible to provide status information to users. Also, this solution is inadequate since it requires that users remember to turn the device back on.
Thus, what is required is a system and method for enabling a user to clean a touch screen device's display screen without inadvertently activating the device's features, and without removing power from the device or from the display screen.